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Mission to take technology to rural India

CHENNAI: People in rural areas, especially the poor, need technology more than those in other parts of the country and the aim of the National Alliance for Mission - 2007 was to formulate a strategy on how to take the technology to rural India, said M.S. Swaminathan, chairperson of the mission, here on Saturday.

Prof. Swaminathan, who was the moderator of a public forum on "Mission 2007: Every village a knowledge centre - a road map," said the mission had planned to adopt a three-pronged strategy to achieve its aim, which included integration of all major national missions, such as rural employment guarantee programme, and "sarva siksha abhiyan", through information communication technology network and making the technology socially meaningful.

Ashok Jhunjhunwala, Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, said the country had to provide opportunities to rural areas as the economy could not prosper by ignoring a chunk of rural people.

Deputy Director of Indian Space Research Organisation V. S.Hedge said the organisation through its satellite programme was providing tele-education and tele-medicine facilities to a majority of villagers in the country.

Namrata Bali, general secretary, Self-employed Women's Association said technology should be used to reduce the drudgery of unorganised workers.

Chief Executive Officer of the Community Service Centre Aruna Sundararajan said that it was unfortunate that rural India had been neglected so long.

Rufina Fernandes of NASSCOM Foundation and Basheerahmad Shadrach, secretary of the mission, were among those who spoke.